So much for True Love
by chipmunkwithwings
Summary: When Lucy ends up drunk on a beach at 2 am, she never thought it would lead to pushing an injured merman around in a wheel-barrow. Follow Lucy as she helps Natsu find his way back to the ocean and learns that long distance friendships can be hard. Gender reversal Little Mermaid type fic. possible nalu later on. Rated T for injures and alcohol use.
1. Chapter 1 - Beach walks and Wheelbarrows

**so i came across a prompt on Tumblr (at the bottom for those interested) and wrote this at 4 am and because they loved it, i thought i'd post it here too. this is my first fairy tail fan fic, probably one-shot and its got mermaids/mermen so i hope people enjoy it.**

 **(Edit: ive fixed tenses and other little errors)**

… … … … …

Lucy groaned, her head was killing her and she couldn't remember where she took her heels off. _Crap, and those were expensive too._ She thought to herself, trying to shift a little on the slightly wet sand. The light rain had made her dress damp and it stuck to her skin uncomfortably, though the cold drops of water had felt nice on her throbbing head. After stumbling alone out of the bar she frequented with her friends, the blond had decided, in her drunk-as-a-skunk state of mind, that lying on the beach was a fantastic idea at this time of the morning.

Mumbling to herself again as she unsuccessfully tried kicking away a sharp shell by her foot, the sounds of frantic splashing caught her ears and causes Lucy to sit up, her natural curiosity unaffected by the alcohol in her system. Looking around, she noticed a small tide pool, where the splashing sounds and sight of flying water was coming from. Getting up on unsteady feet, she wobbled a little as she walked in a definitively wonky line to the tide pool. Poking her head around the last rock,

Lucy gasped, sure her drunk mind was making her see things. Because there, lying in a shallow rock pool, was a mermaid. When the creature turned her way she saw it's features in the street light's faint glow, catching it's piercing eyes and it gave a low hiss. Standing up straighter, Lucy held her hands up passively, showing and telling the strange sea-man that she had no weapons and wasn't there to hurt him.

"Yeah right. Like I'd believe what a _human_ has to say." The pissed tone in his voice softened just the slightest. "But I might forgive you if you help me."

"What kind of help would you accept from a _human_ like me?" Lucy bit back, feeling insulted by his words, ignoring the fact she was arguing with a myth. "Besides, you could easily just get in the sea yourself. It's not like your legs- er, tail, doesn't work." She tried pointing out, hands on her hips as she swayed where she stood.

The merman looked a little guilty but his expression quickly changed back to angry at the end of her reply, giving a harsh bark, "Yeah princess, I would love to. But if you haven't noticed, my tail actually _isn't working right now._ " He attempted to move his tail, face tense in pained concentration, lifting the fluke a few feet off of the rocks before suddenly going white and dropping it, shaking violently and clutching his right side.

As the merman curled in on himself, Lucy made her way over to him as quick as her feet will allow, bumping into the tide pool's side and scraping her legs and the bottom of her dress, the latter of which she is more concerned about. _Later, I can worry about my dress later._ Lifting her head, Lucy reached out to the pale shaking form, who flinched at her touch but didn't move away.

"Hey, it's just me." Keeping her voice soft and calm, Lucy gently lifted one arm, vaguely noting the small translucent scales and fins that sprout from his wrist. Under the arm, Lucy could now see there on his side was a large gash, only just missing his gills. There was blood running down his side, bubbling where it passed over his gills, and red droplets were spreading like ink in the water. Gently lowering the arm again, trying not to freak out, Lucy hopped from one foot to the other. _How to help, how to help... Ah!_ Still speaking softly, she asked the man "What is your name?"

"Natsu." He looked up at her, eyes pleading for the help he is too scared or prideful to ask for.

"I'm Lucy. I'm going to go-" her smile and kind words are cut off.

"No, don't leave me here alone. Please?" Lucy frowned, of course she was going to come back.

"I'm going to get a wheel-barrow. It's not like I can just carry you there." She huffed, "just- don't go anywhere. I'll be right back!" And she quickly turned and started running up the sand, ignoring Natsu's irked cry of 'it's not like I can!', instead focusing on going up and not sideways, feet shifting in the loose sands.

"Thank god Gajeel always leaves the back door unlocked when he works late" She commented, reaching the concrete path at the top and running full pelt for the hardware store, her bare feet slapping the footpath, mindful of any possible broken glass. Adrenaline now pumping, her head feels much clearer and she's able to run in a much straighter line.

... ... ...

Rounding the last corner, Lucy ran right into a tall dark figure. Letting out a small 'oof' she stumbled backwards to see-

"Gajeel! What- what are you doing here?" W _hat kind of question is that? I know why he's here!_ She's so surprised, she stumbles on her words, teetering on her heels as she tries to think of a good reason to borrow from his shop. At least, one that doesn't make her sound crazy.

"Was workin' late. What are _you_ doing out here so late? I thought you went out drinking with yer friends?" His pierced eyebrows are raised, noticing rips in her dress, the lack of footwear and probably the alcohol on her breath. "If yer in some kind of trouble..."

"No! Uh, no, nothing like that. I just fell on my way here. Yes! I uh- I needed to borrow a wheelbarrow?" Geez, for a writer, she was great at novels, shit at excuses. Hanging her head, Lucy stared at her feet, kicking the concrete lightly and wincing when she stubbed her toe on a hidden stone.

Shaking his head and wondering why everyone he knew was weird, Gajeel reached out and clamped a hand on the nervous girl's shoulder. "Blondie, it's fine. I haven't locked up yet, so go grab one from the back. Just make sure you bring it back." Tossing the keys up and down in his other hand, he guided her over to the door and opened it up, letting go and waiting while she ran over and hauled over the biggest barrow, pulling it out the door and wincing again at the rubbery squeak of the plastic as it barely fit though. Shaking his head once again, he shut the door and locked it. Turning, he looked Lucy in the eyes, and with a gruff reminder to get home safe, walked away without looking back.

"Okay. Now i just need to go get Natsu." Grinning, Lucy picked up the handles and pushed as fast as she can, trying not to get lost.

... ... ...

" _Huff_. I'm.. _huff._.back." Lucy panted, finally able to put the handles down and rest. Looking up at the lack of response, she groaned. "Oh, wrong beach. Again." Putting her hands on her knees, she took a deep breath and stood up straight. _Wow, I didn't realize running around in the cold night air like this would feel so good. I should do more night jogging-_

"Oi. I'm waiting over here." A voice broke into her thoughts and Lucy spins quickly, almost regretting it as the scenery spins with her. Vision settling again she recognized the tide pool she left the bleeding merman in.

"Oops. Sorry. Here's your ride home!" She said, stepping to the side and gesturing to the barrow with outstretched hands. On seeing his disdainful look, Lucy giggled. "It's not perfect, but it's better than me dragging you for 2 and a half miles." Picking up the handles, she brought the wheelbarrow as close to the rocks as she could. "Now, think you can climb in from there?"

... ... ...

Grunting, Lucy pulled the wheelbarrow one last meter, before dropping the handles and flopping onto the ground. Tossing her head back to look at the lightening sky, she could see that the stars were beginning to disappear as a light blue sky covered them like a blanket. She sighed. "I really didn't think about how heavy a person with a full sized tail would be." Letting her head drop to the left, the young blond looked at the merman, who looked back and flicked some water at her. She didn't have the energy to cover her face, instead enjoying the cool feeling of the water as it splashed her, salt stinging her eyes a little. "Alright, I'm going, I'm going." She grunted, sitting up. "There's not much water left... how are you doing?" she asked, lips in a tight line as she looked at the level of the water.

"I'm fine." Natsu grinned, pointy canines flashing in the oncoming light of the morning. His tail wiggled, poking out of the wheelbarrow like an oversized pair of legs in a too-small bathtub.

Giggling at the situation, Lucy used the wheelbarrow to haul herself up and tried dragging it again, the thought _I'm almost there, I'm almost there,_ running in a loop through her head, the sight of her apartment building lending her new energy.

Finally, she reached the doors, and turned back to her new companion. "You're going to have to get rid of the last of that water. I can't afford to spill any inside."

With a tight grin, Natsu began to scoop up the remaining water and toss it out, the sound of the water splashing sounding very loud in the quiet of the dawn. When he was done, he nodded and Lucy hurried to get him inside and into the elevator. It was a tight fit, and she had to hold his tail up so the doors could shut, but they made it onto the 3rd floor.

As soon as the doors opened, she rolled the barrow out and down the hall, time was now precious. Fumbling her keys, and dropping them more than once under the pressure, she at last got the right one and jammed it in the lock, twisting the handle and practically shoving the make-shift vehicle into the front room, slamming the front door with a kick as she passed through, rolling it to the bathroom and having to stop outside, because the barrow was too big. Running inside, she frantically twisted the taps on and, remembering the plug seconds later, dashed back out to drag Natsu in the last few steps.

Without waiting for the tub to fill, Lucy helped the now much paler Natsu into her bath, giving a sigh of relief as he gained some color back. Turning the taps off, in a much more calm motion, Lucy opened her drawer under the sink, pulling out her old first aid kit and some long bandages.

Sitting on the edge of the bath, she motioned for him to sit up and began cleaning the wound, wrapping the bandages around his waist and trying not to blush every time she came close to his chest.

"Done." The now yawning girl grabbed a couple of towels from the rail and threw them on the ground, almost collapsing in her haste to lie down. "Night. I'm going to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

… … … … …

 **i have enough stories to write already but im really excited to write some more for this too**

 **prompt on Tumblr by officialqueer:**

Random story idea for the night: Gender reverse Little Mermaid where a hot dude mermaid washes up on the beach in like, New York or something and this chick is lying there b/c she was at a party last night, got hammered, and fell asleep here and now there's an injured mermaid dude and yeah she's hungover but not helping fish people is bad karma so she drags him back to her apartment and puts him in her tub, and they become friends or something.

 **dont forget to hit that 'review' button :)**


	2. Chapter 2 - Pancakes and Pranks

**AN: Here it is. Finally. It took so long because, well, i really didnt know** ** _what_** **i wanted to do with this chapter. I am sorry it took so long, and i hope you all like this either way *scurries away***

 **... ... ... ... ...**

 **Chapter 2**

Natsu woke slowly, bright light and a feeling of being cramped were the first things he noticed. Then the pain in his side flared up and he winced, curling into himself.

The sound of water sloshing around and splashing against a flat surface caused him to open his eyes in surprise, ignoring the harsh glare of white light. _I'm on the surface?_

Looking around he saw he was in a small room filled with odd white square shells laid out in a grid pattern on the ground. He was half submerged in a large deep shell that was filled with water, water that was sloshing out as Natsu splashed his waking tail around. His eyes make a circuit around the room, finishing on his right side, and looking down at the ground, Natsu felt his pupils flick into slivers, his secondary row of teeth sliding out as he let out a surprised hiss.

"Human! Where have you… taken me?" the pink haired merman's memories of the previous night finally connecting in his startled brain, he calmed and felt the extra teeth slide back into his gums. Now that Natsu knew where he was and why, he took a moment to actually _look_ at the human, Lucy if he recalled correctly, as it twitched lightly in it's sleep.

It had long hair, pale gold in the sharp white of the room, which lay all around it, knotted and sticking to its wet skin. The human was likely wet from the water Natsu had splashed out of the giant shell during his sleep. The pale scaleless body was covered by a sandy, ripped fabric, the red colouring appreciated by the observer, and it clung to the shapely form nicely.

A wide, sharp-toothed grin formed on Natsu's face. Lifting his tail very slowly and grunting at the pain that flared in his side, the boy brought the fluke all the way out of the giant white shell, trying to keep as little water as possible from leaving the giant shell. His bright orange fin now held painfully a good 2 feet above the water line, Natsu suddenly dropped it, putting a little power into his muscles to make it drop just a _little_ harder.

 _SPLASH!_

Water shot up and out in a beautiful spray of white. Before it crashed down on the unsuspecting sleeping human.

Who, when woken by very cold bath water raining on her, shrieked, jumped up and kicked out with one leg, high in the air. The foot would have connected with it's intended target, but a layer of water proved an enemy and Lucy slipped. Her foot _just_ passed over the merman's head, the ends of Natsu's pink hair brushed aside by her heel as she crashed back to the floor.

"Ow ow ow" She pushed herself up with her hands, turning to look up at the now laughing merman. "What the _hell_ was that for?!" She yelled indignantly.

Natsu just flicked his tail again, not giving the human an answer. Though laughing pulled at his wound, the sight of her face as she fell to the floor was the best thing he'd seen since he pulled that seaweed prank on Frosty

Lucy decided she was done and stomped out of the white room, slamming the door behind her. Natsu could hear the girl ranting and swearing through the thin walls, saying something about 'never getting drunk and saving fish-people with gardening equipment again'. Then what sounded like music if you were hearing it from inside a distant tiny cave, rather tinny and high-pitched, stopping as quickly as it had started and then Lucy speaking in a fake 'happy voice' to someone else.

Natsu huffed, left all alone and quickly growing bored. He missed Happy. He hoped his friend was okay; he had been on his way to leave a message in his note-box but he was ambushed on his way there and forced to the surface.

Shaking his head, Natsu passed the time by unwinding the bandages from around his waist and checking the spear wound on his side. Giving it a brief clean by splashing water against it, Natsu re-wound the wet bandages. Looking up just as he was tying a knot to prevent it from unwinding again, Lucy came back, no longer angry and and even carrying a plate of food.

Natsu sniffed the air, his belly rumbled at the smell of the flat, sand-coloured circles stacked high. He looked at the human Lucy, looked at the plate and the shiny silver daggers in her hand, and looked back at Lucy again. "Is that food for me?" he asked, his empty stomach rumbled again loudly.

"Yeah... I wasn't sure what merpeople eat so I just made pancakes." She walked closer, handing him the plate, holding out the silver daggers in her other hand. Lucy frowned when he not only does not take the shiny weapons but glares at them instead, "What? You don't use cutlery underwater?"

"Is that what those are? I found some littered throughout the ocean, wasn't sure what you humans used them for." He shrugged his shoulders and continued speaking as Lucy thrusts both item-laden hands forward again. "Thought they might be offerings of some kind to the King." He took the things and stabbed the food, lifting a piece of 'pancake' on the tiny blunt trident. Dropping it on his tongue, Natsu suddenly grinned as his mouth is slammed with flavors, his eyes pulled shut from the size and warmth of his smile.

"How do you make your food taste so good?" the pink-haired boy asked, now shoveling pancakes one by one into his mouth and moaning at the delicious flavours.

"Thanks, but I only used a store-bought mixture. It's not that good - my homemade ones are better." Lucy tried to brush off the compliment, but her cheeks still grew traitorously warm. She moved over to the corner, where there was a plain three-legged stool, perfectly clean white paint standing out against the generally dirtier surrounding.

"Sooo... What's it like living underwater?" The question popped out, brown eyes shining curiously.

Natsu opened his eyes and took a second to finish chewing, not looking at Lucy as he swallowed. "Its mostly the same. I have a cave, friends, I protect the King and his Palace."

"You have a king? What's he like? Is he nice?" Lucy asked as she shifted forwards on her stool. She looks towards the small window in the corner of the bathroom, only a sliver of blue sky visible, "Kings are meant to be nice, right?" Natsu noticed the wistful look on her face but didn't comment on it.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool. He's kind and cares a lot about all of us. Erza calls us 'his subjects' but I reckon we're more like one massive family." The smile on the merman's face was warm. Offering to introduce the human to the King of the Sea was on the tip of his tongue but Natsu balked. _She might be nice and have helped me but I can't take her to see him! Damn, if he knew I was near a human, let alone talking to one! The laws state-_

"Natsu? Is something wrong?" Lucy interrupts.

Looking up at her, Natsu steeled his expression and turned away. "I'm fine. Can I be alone for a moment," he paused and remembered how he was always being told manners always helped in these situations, "please?"

Lucy hesitated, feeling like something she said upset her guest and not sure how to fix it. After another moment deliberating whether to stay and help or follow Natsu's request she sighed and stood up, "Of course." Walking over to the door, Lucy paused on the threshold, looking back and apologising quietly before closing the door behind her.

… … …

A knock at the front door pulled lucy out of her worries about the merman, which she quickly pushed to the back of her mind as she walked over, curious as to who could be at her door this early in the morning.

"Surely it's not Cana, she'll still be nursing her hangover at home..."

She pulled the door open to see her landlady standing in the hallway, hands on her ample hips as she frowned down at Lucy.

Back in the cold white bathroom, Natsu put his head in his hands, the few but strict laws of his people swimming through his mind….

… … … … ...

 **AN: i think i re-wrote it more times than needed, but i hope you enjoyed it. please leave a review so i know what you thought!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Secrets and Shopping

**Chapter 3**

 **AN: its here, a new chapter. whoop. enjoy :)**

 **Disclaimer: i dont own fairy tail, its characters or the two songs i mention in this chapter.**

… … … … …

"Oh, uh, hi, Landlady! What is this visit about?"

"I've been getting suspicious complaints from down stairs about noises and water leaking."

"It's just a broken sink pipe! Don't worry, I only knocked it by accident, but it's fixed now; so you don't need to come in and inspect it or anything. Hahaha…" Lucy had an airy laugh and after a moment the gruff lady nodded and left. Leaning back against the now closed front door, Lucy stared at the incriminating wheelbarrow with a sigh of relief.

Looking over into her open plan kitchen, Lucy let her eyes flit over the baking supplies she had yet to clean. "Better start now, then I can go shopping for food." She said to herself, and walked over to her small black radio, switching it on and playing with the tuner until she found a station playing some upbeat indie rock music. She rolled up her sleeves, turned on the taps and gathered all the dishes into the fresh bubbly water. Lucy hummed along to the parts she knew, and stared out at the town through the small window above her sink, watching all the tiny people busy on the streets below. Sitting the last silver bowl on the drying rack, she dried her hands and grabbed the shopping list from under a galaxy fridge magnet.

She knocked gently on her bathroom door, sticking her head and shoulders inside. "Natsu? I'm just going shopping for food, do you eat fish?"

The boy nodded, scratching an ear-fin absentmindedly. "Cod is good, or maybe salmon if you are patient enough to catch it." He suggested, knowing how long it could take the humans to catch fish with their slow land fishing. He had watched them from the sea before with Happy, sitting and waiting for the fish to bite the lures, tugging and pulling on the line when something finally decided the bait looked tasty enough. And then there were the other humans, hauling nets full of fish and odd tools about on the wooden platforms the fishing-men sat on all day. And they used those same contraptions as Lucy had to bring him here! Natsu had almost forgotten the humiliation of it.

"Oi! You need to find a better way to transport me back to the sea when I'm done healing - I won't be pushed in that tool-bucket again. I'm a proud Merfolk you know!"

Lucy shrugged and half-gave up. "Sure. I'll pull you onto the first bus of the morning and we can take it all the way back to the beach." A clear hint of sarcasm in her voice, Lucy gave a cocky smile for a moment, before loosening it to a warmer one. "I'll leave the radio on for you, so you don't get too bored." Lucy waited for a moment, in case Natsu had anything else to say, but the sea dweller was silent.

Drawing back, Lucy grabbed a jacket and her keys from their hook by the door and left, glancing at the slightly sandy wheelbarrow shoved behind her couch and promising to return it later that night.

… … …

Natsu was bored. _So_ bored. He missed the sea. At least Lucy left the radio-thing on in the other room. Natsu wasn't sure how he felt about humans but he had to admit they made some interesting music. He was currently enjoying a 'rock song' about a man journeying into a ring of flames, and it had something to do with love.

"You were just listening to "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, next up we have "I Want to Break Free" as part of our afternoon's Rock Ballads of the Century, right after these sponsors…"

Natsu stopped listening. He had learned over the past hour that sponsors were almost more boring than silence.

He found himself thinking of the merfolk who attacked him. They had tackled him from out of the current he had been swimming beside, catching him in the side with a spear point and forcing him to swim evasively to the east, away from Atlantica. But he'd swum straight into a storm and the sea's raging currents dragged him far inland, where he had washed up on the beach in a massive wave. Hitting the rocks and rolling down into that tide pool had bruised his tail to Deep-Black and back, but the spear wound in his side was his biggest worry. But he was glad to have been found, even if it took several hours and it was not one of his people, but a loud, smelly human.

Sighing, Natsu wondered what he was going to do. He was too injured at the moment to swim all the way back to Atlantica so he was going to have to heal first. Perhaps he could at least use this chance to learn about these humans and whether they still hunted his kind.

… … …

Walking up and down all the brightly lit aisles Lucy searched for the items on her basic list, crossing them out neatly with a pen as she placed each item in the metal trolley. Lucy stopped her trolley beside the fresh seafood counter and tried to ignore the dead-eyed stares of the fish behind the glass.

"How can I help you today?" The tired assistant asked, waiting patiently while Lucy looked over the iced selection. Spotting a salmon, Lucy looked at the price beside it and flinched slightly. _Nuh uh, sorry Natsu but I'm not spending $50 on a fish._ Instead, Lucy pointed at the blue cod below it and asked for two, which the assistant wrapped up in plastic and handed it to lucy, who then placed the newest item in her trolley, marking 'cod' off her list too.

Passing through the frozen items aisle, Lucy grabbed the mixed berries that she loved making smoothies with and headed over to the baking aisle for the last few items. Standing in front of the flour and bending over to grab a 1kg bag on the bottom shelf, an old woman crouched beside her, reaching for the same bag as Lucy. The grey haired woman apologised and let the blond have the item, where it went into Lucy's trolley.

Smiling, she commented how she missed being young, beautiful and strong. She asked conversationally how Lucy's week had been, bending down and getting her own bag of flour while Lucy replied cryptically, before walking away.

"I met a fairy tale on the beach yesterday."

Lucy missed the sweet look on the elderly lady's face as she waved goodbye, saying "That sounds nice dear."

… … … … …

 **AN: Natsu is going to learn all he can about these weird humans and their culture, and Lucy narrowly avoids getting in trouble!**

 **is there anything people would like to see happen with these characters?**

 **please dont forget to hit that 'review' button and tell me what you thought :)**


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